40. Mrs. Whiteasked the Attorney-General what consideration is being given to the amendment of the law concerning judicial separation, in view of renewed public interest in the matter.
§ The Attorney-General (Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller)This question was fully considered by the Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce, whose Report was presented to Parliament only three years ago. No new factors have since arisen. The Commission unanimously recommended that there should continue to be a choice between divorce and judicial separation and that it was esentially a matter for the individual who desires relief to decide which form 1108 of remedy he should seek, but that the right to obtain a judicial separation on the grounds of insanity, desertion and failure to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights should be abolished.
Very few cases are brought on these grounds, and I am afraid I cannot hold out any hope of early legislation on this subject.
Mrs. WhiteIn view of a recent court case in which a woman who had had a child by another man during her marriage was able to keep her husband separate but tied for life, does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman think that the time has now come for us to consider not only the Report of the last Royal Commission but the Report of the Royal Commission of 1912? Does not he think that sufficient time has passed for a mature consideration to have been given to the Reports of both Royal Commissions? Will he consider making changes in the law, both in respect of the major recommendations in the 1912 Report and the relatively minor ones to which he has referred?
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe recent Royal Commission considered all the recommendations of the 1912 Royal Commission.